The present disclosure relates to a gas turbine engine, and more particularly, to an outer diffuser case of the turbine engine.
Gas turbine engines are rotary-type combustion turbine engines built around a power core made up of a compressor, combustor and turbine, arranged in flow series with an upstream inlet and downstream exhaust. The compressor section compresses air from the inlet, which is mixed with fuel in the combustor and ignited to generate hot combustion gas. The turbine section extracts energy from the expanding combustion gas, and drives the compressor section via a common shaft. Expanded combustion products are exhausted downstream, and energy is delivered in the form of rotational energy in the shaft, reactive thrust from the exhaust, or both. The compressed air from the compressor section passes between stator vanes, then through a diffuser section. The diffuser has an expanding cross sectional area in the direction of the airflow to decrease the velocity and increase the static pressure of the air. This prepares the air for entry into a combustion section at low velocity to permit proper mixing with fuel.
The diffuser section has an outer diffuser case that must be structurally sufficient to support surrounding components and withstand the internal dynamics of the operating engine. The design of an outer diffuser case that has a long useful life, can be removed for maintenance, and is light weight, while capable of withstanding internal pressures, temperatures and air flow volumes is desirable.